Everyone is pretty busy here working hard to make NAACL HLT 2010 a success. Hundreds of conference bags have been ordered; the conference handbook has been completed and sent to the printers; signs, banners, and T-shirts for our big group of student volunteers are being made; and this year's conference gifts arrived early in the morning on a pallet shipment to USC/ISI. Hundreds of metro subway and bus maps (pictured right) have arrived, and your registration forms are still trickling in.

So, what can you do to get ready? Get a sweatshirt or light jacket; our summer days are quite warm, but evenings can quickly turn chilly. Study this area map. Put the finishing touches on your slides or poster, and perhaps brush up on your California English.

Posted by Jason Riesa

Mon, May 17, 2010 – 5:54pm PDT

LA Video

We like this video. A lot. It deserves its own blog post. Enjoy.

Posted by Jason Riesa

Wed, May 5, 2010 – 6:57pm PDT

Is There Good Surfing in LA?

Like, totally.

The most famous surf spot around here is Malibu ("Surfrider Beach").
It's up the coast, a beautiful drive along Pacific Coast Highway.
Malibu is often crowded, because it's the most fun two-foot,
right-breaking, longboarder wave in the world. There's nothing else to
see or do at Surfrider Beach except surf.

To see some fun beach towns, check out Hermosa Beach and Manahattan
Beach. They are good for swimming, surfing, laying out, and watching
people. You can rent a surfboard on Pier Avenue close to the Hermosa
pier, or just hang out.

Or check out Venice Beach: a weird town full of weird people doing weird
things, and yes, they have canals. I live south of Venice pier, so I
surf around there. Washington Boulevard (next to the pier) has places
to rent surfboards. To get to Venice, you take the 10 freeway west to
the 405 freeway, go south and take the 90 west -- yeah, LA jargon!!! --
then, right on Lincoln and left on Washington. If you accidentally take
a right on Washington, no problem: stop and order a double-double at
In-and-Out Burger.

Hermosa, Manhattan, and Venice are strictly beachbreak, but what the
heck! You never know what you're going to get. Every day is
different. It's nice when the dolphins show up to party.

Where Sunset Boulevard hits Pacific Coast Highway, there's a consistent
right-break. I like to go there early mornings. The area close to
shore is popular with beginners, and further out, the big waves peel
like bananas. To get there, you just pull over on the dirt shoulder of
Pacific Coast Highway and hop on down.

El Porto is another popular spot. It frequently roars. El Porto is at
the northern tip of Manhattan Beach, and it has a nice parking lot.
Last time I went there, I nearly got killed. At least I developed a
pretty good tip: "a bunch professional surf photographers on the beach
with telephoto lenses" equals "you might die".

Finally, Santa Monica has decent small surf. If you want to get a surf
lesson (highly recommended!!), you can call ZJ Boarding House in Santa
Monica, and they can hook you up. I just bought a nine-foot longboard
from them. I'm in love with that board! You can tell them you know
that guy who just bought a nine-foot longboard from them.

Posted by Kevin Knight

Sat, Apr 17, 2010 – 4:13pm PDT

Find a Roommate

We've had a request for a roommate matching service, similar to what was offered at ACL 2008. We are happy to be able to provide a roommate matching service through Factual this year.

If you are traveling alone and are looking for a roommate to share a hotel room with, add your information to our Find-a-roommate table. Follow the examples of our imaginary conference goers, Tommy Trojan and Lucy Laker:

We hopped on a plane the other week to bring you some aerial photos of downtown, especially for those who haven't been to LA before. Yes, our camera lens was a bit dusty for a couple of these shots. Photoshop wizards, please contact us.